The man the Trump administration admitted to mistakenly deporting to El Salvador has been returned to the United States to face federal charges, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Friday.
Kilmar Abrego Garcia was among more than 200 individuals deported to El Salvador in March, despite having a court order protecting him from removal.
Federal prosecutors allege Abrego Garcia “played a significant role in an undocumented alien smuggling ring that has resulted in thousands of undocumented aliens being illegally transported into and throughout the United States.”
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A grand jury returned an indictment in May charging him with alien smuggling and conspiracy to commit alien smuggling.
"These facts demonstrate Abrego Garcia is a danger to our community," Bondi said.
In April, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return. He had been living in Maryland with his wife and children before his deportation.
In the weeks that followed, the Department of Justice failed to provide a lower court with sufficient information about the steps being taken to bring him back to the U.S.
On Friday, federal officials said they gave El Salvador President Nayib Bukele a warrant for Abrego Garcia's arrest in Tennessee, which listed federal charges against him for smuggling immigrants into the U.S.
Officials said Abrego Garcia would be tried in the U.S. and returned to El Salvador if convicted.
At a court appearance in Nashville Friday, Federal Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes said Abrego Garcia would remain in custody until an arraignment and detention hearing next Friday. Abrego Garcia told the judge through an interpreter that he understood the charges against him.
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Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland traveled to El Salvador in April and met with Abrego Garcia, who said he was traumatized by his time in the country’s Terrorism Confinement Center, a notorious prison known for human rights abuses.
Van Hollen commented on Abrego Garcia's return on Friday.
“For months the Trump Administration flouted the Supreme Court and our Constitution. Today, they appear to have finally relented to our demands for compliance with court orders and with the due process rights afforded to everyone in the United States," he said. "As I have repeatedly said, this is not about the man, it’s about his constitutional rights – and the rights of all. The Administration will now have to make its case in the court of law, as it should have all along.”
The White House also weighed in, criticizing Van Hollen and others who advocated for Abrego Garcia's return to the U.S.
"The Democrat lawmakers, namely Democrat Senator Chris Van Hollen, and every single so-called ‘journalist’ who defended this illegal criminal abuser must immediately apologize to Garcia’s victims," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted. "The Trump Administration will continue to hold criminals accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
Speaking to reporters on Friday, President Trump said he agreed with the DOJ's decision to charge Abrego Garcia. He said it was also a response to the courts, who he suggested were exceeding their authority.
"The man has a horrible past, and I can see a decision being made…bring him back, show everybody how horrible this guy is, and frankly we have to do something because the judges are trying to take place of a president who won in a landslide and that’s not supposed to be the way it is," the president said.
"Bringing him back you can show how bad he is. He’s a bad guy."
Scripps News has reached out to Abrego Garcia's attorneys for comment on his return and the charges but has not yet received a response.
